Image © Populous

CLIEN T Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

DUR AT I O N 2009 - ongoing

SERV ICES PROV IDED BY BURO HAPPO LD Structural engineering, building services engineering, civil and geotechnical engineering, fire engineering, blast and risk assessment, sustainability, inclusive design, facades, security, IT and communications, lighting design, transport and environment waste

This project will see Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’s current stadium at White Hart Lane replaced by a world class UEFA/FIFA compliant arena. The new stadium will increase spectator capacity from 36,240 to 61,000 and provide Tottenham Hotspur FC with state of the art facilities designed to support football matches, NFL games, music concerts, and private events such as conferences and banquets.

BuroHappold Engineering is providing multidisciplinary services from concept through to completion on this project. At the forefront of our mind is finding ways to ensure the old stadium remains in use while the new developments are taking place, as our client is keen to minimise the impact of the work on fans and also to preserve its vital revenue stream.

Tottenham Hotspur FC is also hoping to improve sightlines for spectators across the new stadium, and heighten their overall experience using the latest technology. In response to this, BuroHappold worked closely with our client and the wider project team to

ascertain how best to meet these needs. The result was the creation of a ground-breaking retractable pitch.

Keen to drive forward innovation across the project, Tottenham Hotspur FC gave key members of the design team the opportunity to travel to various stadia around the world so they could study previous sliding pitch designs and ascertain how these could be modified and improved for use in this new stadium. These included the University of Phoenix stadium in the US, and the Stade Pierrre-Mauroy in France.

Our engineers applied their findings from these research trips to inform our design for the sliding pitch at White Hart Lane, while also adapting to the challenges of this unique project. Primary among these was working out how the pitch could slide beneath the permanent spectator seating of the South stand. Initial feasibility studies showed that it would be impossible for the stand to accommodate the pitch as a whole beneath it without compromising its stability and strength.

A G R O U N D - B R E A K I N G S TA D I U M I N T H E H E A R T O F L O N D O N

NORTHUMBERLAND DEVELOPMENT PROJEC T, NEW STADIUM LONDON, UK

Copyright © 1976-2016 BuroHappold Engineering. All Rights Reserved

So instead, we proposed a pioneering solution by which the pitch will split into three sections before retracting below the stand.

We’ve designed the front three rows of the South stand to be removable so that the pitch has room to descend beneath them. The edges of the pitch itself will then drop vertically downwards to create space around its perimeter, allowing the two outer sections to slide laterally outward and effectively dividing the pitch into three sections. These then slide longitudinally into slots beneath the stand, fitting around the required permanent support structures.

As well as creating a bespoke engineering solution for this unique pitch, BuroHappold liaised closely with the club and wider design team to phase work on the stadium to minimise impact on the fans as much as possible. Our design for the sliding pitch will aid this no end, as it will allow for the main 17,000 seat stand – the largest of its kind in the UK – to remain in operation throughout the duration of the work. This means that fans will be able to continue to attend matches, and the club won’t lose revenue.

This project is the perfect example of our engineers’ ability to ‘think laterally’ to find solutions that work for our client. Not only will the new Tottenham Hotspur FC stadium offer fans a better experience and increase profitability for our client, the design has proved so inspiring it has catalysed a wider regeneration scheme across Haringey so that the surrounding area can better support this incredible venue.

Image © Populous